Category: bible journaling

It’s not too often that I actually call myself a winner. Perhaps it’s a practice I should take up! But, today, I can say I really and truly am a winner!

Since I started my journey into bible journaling recently I have fallen more and more in love with the products and gifts offered at DaySpring, not to mention their Illustrated Faith line and site, which is absolutely the bee’s knees, in my opinion. (I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that!) I love following DaySpring on Instagram and receiving email notifications about their upcoming promotions and new products. Everything is so uplifting and focused on what I want to be focused on…living an abundant life as a follower of Jesus.

While I have been doing all of this following and sometimes buying (more than I should actually admit) I entered a giveaway along the way. I’ve been entering quite a few giveaways in general recently since this mommy is on a budget and well, who doesn’t love getting things for FREE? I never really expect to win because SO many people are entering and what are the chances? But I take my chances when something stands out to me and lo and behold, I won something!!! I didn’t just win anything though. I won a beautiful collection of gifts. All the gifts are so wonderful and happy and completely lifted my spirits. I’ve been pretty sick recently and that has taken a bit of a toll on my overall mood. These gifts are so great that I wanted to show you here because you can get them too on DaySpring.com plus they are all great gifts for girlfriends or the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday.

Before I go any further, I’d like to let you know that DaySpring is not paying me for this post in any way. I received these gifts as a winner of a contest and I’m so thrilled that I wanted to share them with you!

Have a look at all the goodies and make sure to read to the bottom of the page because I have a surprise for you!

How adorable is this little sign? And I totally need the reminder!Isn’t this journal beautiful and inspring? I just want to write in it right now. The desk calendar is full of inspiration, too!The timing of receiving this cup couldn’t have been any better. I bought an insulated tumbler from DaySpring last week and I broke it (by dropping it) the first day I went to use it. Now I have a replacement!Okay, who doesn’t want to wear this? It’s a little piece of perfection to wear around your neck!Oh my goodness! This bag is perfect for bible journaling supplies or cosmetics. Bonus, it’s an adorable print with such an inspirational piece of gracing it.

I hope you didn’t suffer too much viewing these not so perfect images, but I am certain you could tell what a wonderful collection of gifts I received. Thank you, DaySpring!!!

Now, for my surprise! I’m all about passing on kindness. I love making the day of a friend or loved one with a little gift or surprise. If you’re reading this, I’m considering you a friend and I want to share a friendship gift with you! Since I currently have several journals on hand all empty and waiting in a drawer for me, I’d like to pass on the beautiful journal above because “Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created!” I love the design and this mantra.

If you’re interested in receiving this gift please leave a comment below sharing why you would like this lovely journal along with your Instagram or Twitter username (watch for my follow and please follow back so I can contact you via private message on the platform of your choice). You’ll get an extra entry if you decide to follow the blog. And, that’s it! I’ll pick a winner at random by end of day Friday April 15th and send you the journal on my dollar. US residents only, please.

You know I talk about messy stuff around here and let me tell you, bible journaling can get messy.

I recently (very recently) began journaling in my bible as a way to spend more time in the word and as a way to utilize my creativity to help me study, express my thoughts, feelings, emotions and prayers through art. While I went through a period of severe depression recently, I found it particularly difficult to connect with God. Once I found myself in this “recovery” phase of things (I’d like to think that’s where I’m at.) my natural instinct to draw near to him became apparent again. This was a joyful discovery for me after these past few months of feeling so far away.

But like most things that I do, it’s been a messy adventure. Both good and invigorating and, I hate to say bad, but well…just a little messy. Messy can mean a lot of things. Try to think of it, in this case, both literally and figuratively. That said, I’d like to share my confessions with you about what this beginning process has been like for me. Perhaps you can learn something from me. And maybe it will even encourage you to dive in to bible journaling yourself. You will find an amazing and rich community waiting for you on all social media outlets, but you can first look here and follow the #biblejournaling and #biblejournalingcommunity hashtags on Instagram to find fellow journalers. I think you will undoubtedlyfind that bible journaling is a beautiful (and sometimes messy) way to express your faith.

Confession No. 1

I’m kind of a scaredy cat. I am timid when it comes to writing and making art on the pages of my beautiful new journaling bible. (You can find the one I have here, if interested. I’m not getting paid to tell you about it and there are lots out there.) I totally hesitate to try new mediums and to really take over the page. I’ve discovered that I’m terrified of getting my pages wet now. This is because they wrinkle and crinkle easily (although there are methods that supposedly help with this (like using this stuff called Gesso), I have not mastered these techniques fully yet. I have ruined pages on the flip side by getting a page too wet and causing my work to run or smudge.

I did this here:

And here:

Confession No.2

I’ve spent way too much money on my new hobby. Like most people who get excited about new things, I wanted to try out all of the goodies and tools and well, everything. I still do, in fact. But if you can try to use some restraint it will probably serve you well! (Your bank account will definitely be happier.) It’s really hard not to indulge in all of the great products you see others using, but time and time again I hear bible journaling experts say to just start with the basics. I certainly have the basics now…and then a little more. In the hopes of helping another beginner out there I would recommend getting a journaling bible, some Sakura Pigma Micron pens, a couple regular pencils and some good colored pencils, but even Crayola Twistables work great. You can work your way up from there, perhaps a little bit more slowly than I did. I have to recommend Illustrated Faith as a great resource for bible journaling supplies, tools and treats, simply because I love them. They also have super fun ways to embellish your page (I’m waiting on the arrival of some stickers and die cuts I ordered from them now) if you aren’t that into drawing, painting or lettering pages all by yourself or if you just want to fancy things up. I’d show you my stash of stuff, but that would be embarrassing.

Confession No. 3

I’m totally insecure about my pages. This is the confession that is a little bit harder to put out there, but it’s true. I can rob myself of the joy of journaling by comparing my work or end results to others – others who have some mad art skills, training or have been doing this for a long time. None of this comparing business is good. It takes away from the whole point of why I’m doing this in the first place. I have images in my head of the greatness I could create only to fall way short of that expectation and then I feel all sulky and gloomy. That’s not what God would want for me to come away with after spending time in the word and it’s not of Him. To combat this, I intend to work diligently on spending more time in prayer and devotion and allowing my bible journaling to reflect that, not what I think the finished page should look like. There’s a real battle here, and I think other beginner bible journalers can relate to that.

Here’s wishing you a happy bible journaling adventure and don’t forget, it’s okay to get messy!

If you’re a beginner, tell me what your confessions are? If you’re not a beginner, how about sharing what obstacles, if any, you had to overcome when you got started? And if you’re not either of those, say hi anyway?

I started this blog with the intention of utilizing it as a therapeutic outlet. Then I got caught up in the idea of getting a lot of followers and visits and views and I forgot to keep doing that, in a way. So today, I’m gonna write about what’s really going on with me in my head, because I need to share it, and it might as well be with you, right?

I can feel this depression thing hanging on or hanging on to me again today. But wait, I told you I had turned a corner previously…I still think I have (I haven’t had a suicidal thought in quite a while it seems), but today, I feel heavy and up and down and irritated and sad and the sad feels big. I woke up feeling positive. I did a little shopping and enjoyed that. I put together a new flower arrangement for our front door and that was fun! But slowly, as the day crept on, the heaviness grew heavier and my ability to cope with the loudness of my home and youngest child (she lives with autism and can be quite loud) lessened more and more.

In order to get through it I isolated. I went to my room and locked myself in, literally, and did some bible journaling. I find this to be a great refuge for my mind and it does my soul good. I liked my finished product even though I am noticing that I am comparing my entries more and more to others recently. (red flag) It really did turn out quite nicely. (How I wish those self-loathing thoughts would seriously and completely disappear forever!) Then I tried to be present with my husband and youngest in our living room, but I felt like I had to tune out…I focused on social media and reading blog posts of others and colored some of a drawing I recently created. I was completely isolated in my mind. I truly just couldn’t cope. I wanted to run away. I wanted to go back into my bedroom and lock the door and never come out.

Something has shifted in me recently. I had experienced a couple weeks of what I now know was hypomania and naturally my doctor adjusted my medications. I want that hypomania back. I want to feel happy or excited or something. I don’t want to feel this heavy heart that’s beating in my chest tonight. I’m scared of these feelings. I don’t want to feel them. I don’t want to go back to that dark place. Please don’t take me back there.

I’m going to try really hard to remember that although this has been happening more frequently lately, it doesn’t mean I’m there, stuck in the darkness. I’m going to remind myself that tomorrow is a new day and help is on the way. This heaviness may lighten up. I’m going to try again. It’s Easter tomorrow and we celebrate the resurrection of our savior, perhaps tomorrow will be a resurrection for me as well.

I’ve begun a new journey with Bible Journaling. This is my first week, so go easy on the expectations. I’m finding that this process brings more depth and meaning to my devotional time and I love the creativity outlet. My journaling Bible has really thin pages, so I haven’t figured out how to keep the pages from wrinkling when using watercolors or adding water to watercolor crayons, so please forgive that as well. In the vein of this being a Wordless Wednesday, I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking!